Street-indicator for cars.



P. REDOC' CIO,

STREET INDICATOR FOR CARS. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20; 1914.

Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

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NICOLA DII DOMENICO, OF PROVIDENCE,

RHODE ISLAND.

STREET- INDICATOR FOR CARS.

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it To'a ZZ whom. it may concern I Be it known that I, PASQUALE Raooccro, a subjectof the King of Italy, and residing in the city of; Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island,

United. States of America, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street-Indicators for Cars, of which the fol lowing is a specification. i

This invention relates to street indicators for trolley cars and has for its object to provide a 'simplejand effective mechanism wherebya ribbon is mounted to be wound from operating the ribbon rolls\ whereby each time the solenoid is energizeda full stroke of thesame moves the ribbon the required 'illustrating'the action of the solenoid on the distance to bring into view another reading.

,A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the direction of movement of the'ribbonmay be readily reversed.

j A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby ribbon rolls may bereadily removed and another inserted in its. place as often as the car is changed from one route to another so as to properly indicate the different cross streets of that route.

WVith these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of'construction, as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims. I In the accompanying drawing: Figure lis a side elevation showing a portion of a street car in section with my improved street indicator device mounted at either end .within the car and the trolley poleas provided with a contact to engage a correspond ing contact depending from the trolley wire. Fig. 2 is a detail. front view of the inclicating mechanism, and the casing as partly broken away. Fig. 3 isan end elevation on rolls through the medium of the main shaft. Fig. i is a detail showing the I Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 20, 1914. Serial No. 826,103.

. a M Jan. la,

front view of the trolley pole and wire and showing the two contacts in engagement one with the other. Fig. ,5 is a diagrammatic view showing the wiring system Fig. 6- 1s an end view of one of the centers showin its flattened nose through which the rolls are driven.

Referring to the drawing, 10 designates the trolley wire from which is supported a contact member 11 at intervals along the same, said contacts being usually placed midway between the cross streets of the route upon which the car is traveling. or at anyother desired points along the trolley wire. On the usual trolley pole 14: I have mounted anelongated arm 15 off set laterally therefrom, as illustrated in Fig. 4, so as to contact with the roll 12 of member 11 upon passing the same. In the car there is mount-ed oneof my improved street indicators in the casing 16. Each of said indicators is constructed with an upper roll 1? and a. lower roll l8 on which rolls is wound a portion of ribbon, tape or sheet 19 of flexihis material, such as cloth or the like, on the face of which is preferably painted or otherwise imprinted the names of the streets of the route on which the car is traveling, said names being spaced apart on the ribbon so that but one will appear at a time in the opening 20 of the casinglli. The roll 1'? is supported at one end on the common lathe center 21 and its opposite end by a fiat nosed center 22, see Fig. 6, which center is adapted to be pressed outward into engage ment-with a corresponding slot in the end of the roll by the action of a spring 23. At 18 is a lower roll onto which another portion of the ribbon is wound and between which rolls the ribbon. is arranged to. err-- tend; this lower roll is retained in a similar manner. to the upper roll, one end being supported by the center 2-4, while the opposite end is supported on the Hat nosed center 25 similar to that illustrated in Fig. 6 through which center this lower roll is driven, said center being pressed into engaging position by means of the coil spring 26 'wherebywhen it is desired to remove this particular roll or sheet of street indicating ribbon, it is only necessary to withdraw the centers 22 and 25 and the whole may be lifted out and another indicating the cross streets of the new route positioned in its place. In order to operatively support these one frame across to the other.

is providedat one end with the gears '30 and 31. The latter gear is. driven by the former and runs loosely on the jack shaft 32 and is provided with a clutch member 33. A second clutch member 34'. is mounted to slide endwise on a key in the jack shaft and is arranged to be operated by the handle 62 so that a movement of the handle to' the left causesthe clutch members to engage and drive the center 25 and consequently the roll carried by it. This center is mounted on a key to slide endwise in a socket in the end of this jack shaft so that it may be withdrawn for the purpose of releasing its roll.

In order to obtain a reverse winding motion of the ribbon it is found necessary to rotate the upper roll 17 in the opposite direction. To accomplish this I have mounted a gear 35 on the opposite end of the main shaft, which gear drives a gear 36 loosely mounted on the jack shaft 37 through an idler gear 38 A clutch member 39 is mounted on this jack shaft 37 to slide on a key therein. In order to' operate both of these clutches simultaneously so that one shall be thrown into engagement at the same time that another is thrown out, I have con.- nected these clutches 34: and 39 by the rod 40 and both may be operated atonce by a single handle lever 62. This hand lever is provided with a tooth on its inner face adapted to work over the quadrant 41 which quadrant is provided with three recesses for the reception of this tooth, on the lever, whereby when the tooth is in the recess at the right the clutch 39 is in engagement and the ribbon is moved upward, and when the lever is thrown to the left the tooth engages the recess at the left and the clutch 3i is then in engagement, and clutch 39 out of engagement, in which case the ribbon is moving in a downward direction, and when it is desired that the ribbon shall move in neither direction even though the motor may be operated, the lever 62 is moved to central position to engage the recess 43,

As an'actuator for this mechanism I have preferably provided a motor in the form of a solenoid 4:4 as the simplest, most effective and most direct means of obtaining the required results. To cooperate with this solenoid- I h'ave mounted a plate 45 on the end of the main shaft which plate is provided with a plurality of laterally extending pins 4C6, preferably four in number.. I have also This shaft provided a downwardly extending arm 4 7 011 the solenoid, pivoted at 60 to the solenoid core, said arm having a laterally extending lip 48 near its lower end with a beveled headl9 below the lip. A guide pin 50 i positioned on one side of said arm 47 and a spring 51 to yieldably hold the arm against said guide 50, whereby when the solenoid is deenergized this arm drops by gravity or other suitable means, and the beveled end 49 rides over. the next pin below and finally hooks beneath the same. As the solenoid is energized it rises during the engagement of the contacts 12 and 15 the full length of its stroke which moves the pin upward and lo tates the main shaft 29 one-quarter revolution- As soon as the solenoid is deenergized it again drops to be in position for engagement with another pin when another engagement is made with. the contact members 1:2 and 15 and the operation repeated. If-desired a bell 52 may be employed for calling the attention of the passengers to the fact that another street is being approached and is being indicated. In order tooperate his bell a hammer 53 is pivotally mounted at 54, the opposite end ofthe hammer arm 55 is in position to be engaged by the pin 56 on the gear 31 as it rotates so that, as the pin moves from the arm the hammer is carried upward by the spring 57' to engage andv ring the bell.

The operation of myimproved street indicating device may be further described as follows: As the contact members 12 and 15' on the trolley pole and wire are brought into engagement with each other during the travel of the car, just before a cross street is reached an electrical. connection is made and the current passes through the wire 58 and energizes both. solenoids 4- and 59 whereb both of the indicating devices are operated simultaneously to indicate to people at both ends of the car the name of the street next to be reached. As above described the mechanism -may be operated through the movement of, the lever :25 so that either the upper roll 17 will be actuated" to roll the ribbon upward, or the roll 18 may be actuated to roll the ribbon downward, to correspond to the direction in which the car is traveling, and the order in which the different streets will be reached.

One of the essential features of the inven tion is the readiness by which the different rolls, may be removed from the mechanism scribed, comprising spaced apart standards 1 each having oppositely extended arms, the arms f each standard being parallel with memes the arms of the other standard, spaced apart rolls between said standards, a ribbon carried by said rolls, a rotatable center mounted in the end of an arm of one standard and engaging an end of one of said rolls, a second rotatable center mounted in the end of an arm of the other standard and engaging the opposite end of the other roll, jack shafts rotatably mounted in the ends of the remaining arms of said standards and having sockets in their ends, spring pressed centers mounted in said sockets and engaging the ends of the respective rolls opposite those engaged by the first mentioned center, a motor, and means for simultaneously connecting either jack shaft with the motor when the other jack shaft is disconnected therefrom.

2. A street indicator of the character described, comprising spaced apart standards each having oppositely extended arms, the arms of each standard being parallel with the arms of the other standard, spaced apart rolls between said standards, a ribbon carried by said rolls, a rotatable center mounted in the end of an arm of one standard and engaging an end of one of said rolls, a second rotatable center mounted in the end of an arm of the other standard and engaging the opposite end of the other roll, jack shafts rotatably mounted in the ends of the remaining arms of said standards and having sockets in their ends, spring pressed centers mounted in said sockets and having flat noses engaging the ends of the respective rolls opposite those engaged by the first mentioned centers, the ends of said rolls being grooved to receive said fiat noses, a motor, and means for simultaneously connecting either jack shaft with the motor when the other jack shaft is disconnected therefrom.

3. A street indicator of the character described, comprising spaced apart standards each having oppositely extended arms, the arms of each standard being parallel with the arms of the other standard, each standard being also provided with a laterally disposed bearing midway between the arms thereof, a main shaft rotatably supported by said bearings, spaced apart rolls between said standards, a ribbon carried by said rolls, a rotatable center mounted in the end of an arm of one standard and engaging an end of one of said rolls, a second rotatable center mounted in the end of an arm of the other standard and engaging the opposite end of the other roll, jack shafts rotatably mounted in the ends of the remaining arms of said standards and having sockets in their ends, spring pressed centers mounted in said sockets and engaging the ends of the respective rolls opposite those engaged by the first mentioned centers, and means for simultaneously connecting either jack shaft with said main shaft when the other shaft is disconnected therefrom.

a'. A street indicator of the character described, comprising spaced apart standards each having oppositely extended arms, the arms of each standard being parallel with the arms of the other standard, spaced apart rolls between said-standards, a ribbon carried by said rolls, a rotatable center mounted in the end of an arm of one standard and engaging an end of one of said rolls, a second rotatable centermounted in the end of an arm of the other standard and engaging the opposite end of the other roll, jack shafts rotatably mounted in the ends of the remaining arms of said standards and having sockets in their ends, spring pressed centers mounted in said sockets and engaging the ends of the respective rolls opposite those engaged by the first mentioned centers, a motor, a clutch lever pivotally supported by one of said standards, clutches for connecting said jack shafts with said motor, and means operated by said clutch lever for rendering each clutch inoperative as the other is made operative.

5. A street indicator of the character described, comprising spaced apart standards each having oppositely extended arms, the arms of each standard being parallel with the arms of the other standard, spaced apart rolls between said standards, a ribbon carried by said rolls, a rotatable center mounted in the end of an arm of one standard and engaging an end of one of said rolls, a second rotatable center mounted in the end of an arm of the other standard and engaging the opposite end of the other roll, jack shafts rotatably mounted in the ends of the remaining arms of said standards and having sockets in their ends, spring pressed centers mounted in said sockets and engaging the ends of the respective rolls opposite those engaged by the first mentioned centers, a motor, a clutch lever pivotally supported by one of said standards, a guide carried bv the other standard, a clutch member attached to said lever for connecting one of said jack shafts to the motor, a clutch rod attached to said lever and passed through said guide, and a second clutch operated by said rod for connecting the other jack shaft with the motor.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in. presence of two witnesses.

PASQUALE RADOCCIO. lvitnesses E, l. Oonnzz, A. F. hlACREADY. 

